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Friends, family of popular Haverhill ski instructor are stepping up efforts to get him a kidney

For three years, Michael Privitera’s family has been on the hunt for a living kidney donor with no success. But they’re not giving up hope.

Michael Privitera of Groveland has been searching for a kidney donor since 2022.

February 9, 2025

3 minutes to read

Michael Privitera has spent decades inspiring skiers on the slopes in Haverhill. Now, his friends and family are inspiring him with their push to find a living kidney donor while time is still on his side.

Sixty-eight-year-old Privitera, a Groveland resident, has been the Snowsports School Director at the Bradford Ski Area since 2012. Before that, he worked there as a ski instructor for several years.

While it may not be obvious to his ski students, Privitera has been searching for a kidney donor since 2022. Privitera, who has type 1 diabetes, started home peritoneal dialysis in January of that year after doctors diagnosed him with end-stage renal disease. While the nightly six-hour treatment helps him for now, doctors say he needs a kidney transplant.

“Physically I feel pretty good,” Privitera told Boston.com. “Dialysis has become part of my daily routine, but I know it can’t go on indefinitely and I really need a kidney. The outpouring of calls, questions and people inquiring about donating is emotionally overwhelming.”

Privitera is on the national transplant list, but the search for a kidney has been fraught with challenges.

A glimmer of hope came when a transplant surgery was scheduled for Nov. 5, but the operation fell through. After that, Privitera’s daughter, Allison Colwell, stepped up the search to find a new donor for her dad.

Colwell had already started a Facebook page, Get Big Mike a Kidney, in 2022. But in December, she started handing out flyers with her dad’s photo, a link to Massachusetts General Hospital’s donor form, and a QR code people could scan to be taken to the Facebook page.

Colwell is unable to donate her own kidney because her 7-year-old daughter has Joubert Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that can cause kidney failure — and the need for a transplant of her own.

“Unfortunately he does not have any nuclear family options that can donate,” she said. “There are not enough kidneys to go around in our family. “

In November, Colwell wrote on Facebook that the “clock is ticking” for her dad and urged people to help spread the word.

“If you have previously tried to be a donor but were not accepted the first time, please try again. If you have shared my posts before, please share again,” she wrote.

Colwell said a lot of people reach out to her and Privitera about being donors, but updates from Mass. General are hard to come by since so much of the process is confidential.

“It’s difficult because it is a slow process, but the time my dad has to find a kidney is going by fast. His arteries are hardening due to three years of dialysis, so there is a point where he would no longer be a transplant candidate,” Colwell told Boston.com

She noted that a donor’s blood type doesn’t matter, as medical specialists can do a paired exchange. She asked that anyone interested in donating fill out a confidential form at Mass. General’s Living Donor Program page.

In addition to his work as a ski and snowboard instructor, Privitera has been a 24-year volunteer for the Red Sox Flag Crew, coordinating the large flag that drops on the Green Monster during special ceremonies at Red Sox Games.

He’s maintaining his optimism, and said he is amazed at the work his daughter has put into the search for a living donor.

“I’d like to thank all who have and will inquire about helping to save my life,” Privitera said. “I realize I’m one of many people in need of a kidney or other organ transplants so I hope this campaign helps spread awareness of this need.”

Anyone interested in learning more about living kidney donations can do so by visiting Mass General’s FAQs page.